Money News

Brits dread having their car stolen

Friday 6 January, 2012

By Martin Fagan

UK drivers live in fear of motor thieves even though car crime is falling.

Britain's motorists are living in fear of having their car stolen or broken into, according to a new poll.

Car insurance specialist Admiral commissioned YouGov to survey 2,500 drivers and found almost three quarters (74%) worry about their car being stolen or broken into.

Drivers in the east Midlands and Yorkshire are most concerned, with 80% in those regions worrying about their car being taken. Motorists in Scotland have the most relaxed stance with 63% admitting they worry about their car falling victim to crime.

However, Admiral says this anxiety about car crime is unfounded as its own claims statistics show the number of cars being stolen or broken into has dropped dramatically over the past decade.

In 2011, 0.16% of motorists insured by Admiral had their car stolen compared to 0.54% in 2001. Car break-ins show a similar pattern: ten years ago 0.61% of motorists insured by Admiral had their car broken into compared to 0.16% in 2011.

“Our statistics show that car crime has been falling for several years now, so maybe worrying about it is undue,” said Dave Halliday, managing director at Admiral.

“This anxiety could be linked to a general sense of unease about the state of the country and the economy in particular; our cars are, after all, one of the most valuable things we own.

“Modern cars have excellent security features with manufacturers making them more and more difficult to steal, which must have some impact on the number stolen or broken into.”

Of the motorists surveyed, 78% had never had their vehicle stolen, while an unfortunate 1% had their vehicle stolen on three separate occasions; 56% had never had their vehicle broken into, but a luckless 1% had been broken into six or more times.

Admiral’s statistics from the last year showed the Nissan Sunny, BMW X6 and Audi RS6 were the three cars most likely to be stolen. The Nissan Figaro is the car most likely to be broken into followed by the Citroen C8 and BMW 730.

Photo by ell brown